


Promotional Offers

by papersandals (laronmi)



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
Genre: Get Together, M/M, Misunderstandings, Post-Series, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-13 00:34:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3361214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laronmi/pseuds/papersandals
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two weeks before the end of his college career, and Hibiki still hasn't heard back from any potential employers. Thank goodness for Yamato and his offer of a job and...possibly something else. </p>
<p>Written to fill two prompts I received on Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Promotional Offers

**Author's Note:**

> so the prompts for this fic were:
>
>> yamato unintentionally doing or saying things that come off as really suggestive cause he's kinda naive about those kinds of things and hibiki getting really flustered about it?
> 
> and:
>
>> hmm... how about a fic about one of them confessing to the other? haha i can't really imagine it going very smoothly at all
> 
> i tried writing individual stories for these, but nothing would come out. a year later, i tried to combine the prompts, and this monster popped out
> 
> i consider this crack fic. i don't know if anyone else does.

` Hibiki, `

` JPs has greatly benefited from your occasional assistance these last years. We have become greater than we have ever been before, and that is due to your hard work. It would be remiss of JPs to not have you permanently on our side. `

` More than that, I would be remiss in not having you by my side. `

` I have found myself yearning for your presence these last months. After you graduate, I hope you will consider remaining by my side as we continue paving a path towards the future. You would, of course, be standing as an equal instead of a subordinate.  `

` I am expecting your response soon. `

-

When he first read the e-mail, Hibiki's first reaction was a breath of a relief. He followed that up with an exclaimed, "Thank GOD," that almost got him kicked out of the library.

It was two weeks before his final semester came to an end. He still had four papers and a presentation still uncompleted, and he found himself in a limbo. His paid internship was due to end after he graduated, and none of the many places he had applied to for employment ever got back to him. Having a well-paying job offered to him on a silver platter with an organization that he already knew seemed like a dream come true. It was a door of opportunity that, while it wasn't what he had expected to do straight out of college, was at least guaranteed to exist.

So he used his good mood to finish two papers before the library closed, feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders for the first time in weeks.

The next morning, he reviewed note cards for his presentation while eating a convenience store riceball that had been left in the fridge for too long. When Daichi ambled out of his room with circles under his eyes so dark that they looked painted on, Hibiki beamed at him with a mouthful of rice.

Daichi squinted at him. "You're way too cheerful. I need coffee."

"You need sleep," Hibiki said. "Finished your paper yet?"

Daichi's response was a dismayed moan, followed by him walking into a wall and banging his head against it.

"I'm so screwed," he said as he lifted his head and brought it against the wall again. "I don't belong in college! What am I doing?!"

"This is kind of late to be having doubts," Hibiki said, watching Daichi hit his head against the wall repeatedly. "You've gotten through almost four years! You can finish!"

"No, I caaaaaan't." Daichi slid down to the floor, forehead still very much connected to the wall. "I hate adulthood!"

Hibiki bit back the reply that they weren't there yet, and instead glanced at the clock. He had thirteen minutes before he had to leave. That was at least enough time to haul Daichi back to bed.

"Okay," he said, dropping the riceball and the note cards. He walked over to Daichi — who had curled up into a ball and adhered even more of himself to the wall. "Let's get you to bed."

"I can't sleep. I haven't finished anything!"

Hibiki gave a cautious tug at Daichi's arm. It remained wrapped around his legs. "You're a genius at pulling off last minute papers. You'll be fine."

"Not this time! This is it! The final nail in the coffin! The meteor that's gonna wipe out the dinosaurs of my academic career!"

Hibiki grabbed a fistful of Daichi's shirt and began to drag him away from the wall. It worked, sort of, but Daichi's face — which had been getting almost indecently intimate with the wall — fell to the carpet and did not get up. Hibiki paused, sent a silent sorry to Daichi's face for the incoming carpet burn, and pulled.

"AUGH," Daichi screamed. Hibiki, now with only eight minutes left to drag Daichi into bed and then leave, dropped him and watched him flail about on the ground. Daichi contorted and twisted, and when he stuck a leg out in an attempt to kick Hibiki, Hibiki grabbed it and held on tight.

"Bedtime," he singsonged, and after making sure that Daichi's face was not going to grate against the carpet, began dragging him again.

Daichi cursed him and waved his fists feebly towards him. "You bastard! I'm trying to complain, and you're trying to shut me up!"

"I think you're losing it from sleep deprivation."

"I'm losing it because everything is awful!" Another attempt at a kick, and Hibiki had both his squirming legs. "We're screwed! You can't get a job, and I can't graduate!"

Hibiki butt-bumped the door to Daichi's room open. "Actually," he said, not quite succeeding in taking the smugness out of his voice, "I got a job." 

Daichi stopped squirming. In fact, he stopped fighting entirely. "You seriously got a job?"

"I seriously got a job," Hibiki said, then dropped Daichi's legs off three feet from his bed. "Yamato got me one."

Daichi's eyes had been wide since Hibiki declared his employment, but they went even wider when Hibiki told him the job was from Yamato. " _Yamato Hotsuin_ gave you a job? You're going to work for JPs?!"

Hibiki shrugged. "I've been doing stuff for them on and off for a while."

"But nothing serious! And you haven't had to do anything for them in months!" Daichi scrambled to his feet. "You're really going to work for JPs?"

"Yeah. Nothing else has come through, and I'm going to be starting at the top, not the bottom."

"Of course you would," Daichi muttered, but he looked more awed than disgusted. "Huh. So Yamato just called you up and asked, or did you get visited by some guys in uniform?"

"He sent me an e-mail." Hibiki pulled out his phone. Three minutes left. "Here, read this."

Daichi took the phone with narrowed eyes and one raised eyebrow. As he read, his eyes grew wide, and the other eyebrow went up to join its brother. "Uh, Hibiki?"

"Yes?"

"Are you sure this is a job offer? Because it sounds like Yamato is propositioning you."

Hibiki grabbed his phone out of Daichi's hands as quickly as he could. "You're sleep deprived," he said, but even as he said it, he was re-reading the e-mail.

"He didn't say anything about a job." Daichi threw his hands up and, mercifully, went to lay on his bed. "He only mentions JPs in the first paragraph! The rest of his e-mail is about you being by his side. The flow of the e-mail sounds like a confession, with the introduction meant to ease you into it."

"And you're worried about your essays _why_?" Hibiki tucked his phone away calmly, but his heart was beating fast and he had gone rigid.

"I'm being serious. That sounds more like a confession than a job offer." Daichi rubbed his eyes. "Yamato does act like he's in love with you all the time."

Hibiki shrugged helplessly as memories of Yamato's teasing glances, possessive declarations, and endless praises flashed through his mind. "I'm his first friend. He doesn't know how to act around me."

Daichi stared at him. "You were the one who told me that he was probably in love with you!"

Well, yes, that was true. It was impossible to not notice the way that Yamato clung to him, in the strange, socially ignorant way that Yamato did. He had noticed during the week of that incident, years ago now, and had told Daichi and Io of his suspicions months after he started doing odd jobs for JPs. It was kind of amusing, in the beginning, because Yamato's crush was so obvious that it bordered on hilarious.

But even though it started out kind of amusing, it rapidly became kind of sad. Kind of scary. And, although he never admitted to anyone else, kind of thrilling. Yamato was a good looking guy, and there was attraction there. He was difficult, yes, but it wasn't as if Hibiki didn't understand him. 

And there was the rub. Hibiki probably understood Yamato — or at least he was privileged to more information about him — than anyone else in Yamato's life. He had to take any sort of permanent or semi-permanent change in their relationship and proximity with that in mind.

But in the meantime, the part of his mind that housed common sense was knocking him on the head with the fact that he was going to be late.

"Sorry," he said, shaking his head and cutting Daichi off from whatever he'd been saying. "I'm gonna be late." He dashed out of Daichi's room, grabbed his note cards and books, then headed out the door. He abandoned the riceball to sit on the kitchen table until one of them threw it out.

"AT LEAST TEXT HIM AND ASK HIM TO CLARIFY," Daichi shouted from his room. Hibiki stopped just long enough to turn back and smile at their messy apartment before closing the door and running to the bus stop.

-

` Hey, just to make sure, this is a job offer, right? You're offering me a position at JPs? `

-

` Hibiki, `

` Yes, it is an offer.  `

` If you have any hesitations about my sincerity, discard them now. You are my equal—the only one in the world whom I can call such. Neither of us shall top the other without consent, and even then it would an act of mutual satisfaction between two adults. `

` I look forward to having you, Hibiki. `

-

"He has to be doing this on purpose, right? There's no way that he just phrased it like this accidentally, right?"

Lunch was spent with Io, who had been kind enough to indulge him in getting horribly unhealthy fast food. They sat in the corner, chairs rearranged so that their backs were against the walls. It was midday, and even though the restaurant had wide, ceiling-to-wall windows, their corner managed to avoid any direct sunlight. They weren't quite cast in shadow, but it was enough to at least give them the illusion of privacy.

Hibiki liked the table. No one else seemed to, since it was empty every time he came, but that suited his needs just fine. He swirled a french fry in a concoction of mayo and ketchup, sighed, and gazed out at the rest of the sunlit restaurant.

"I mean, you can easily rewrite that without making it so suggestive."

He glanced back at Io, who hadn't appeared to move an inch in the last minute or so. Her burger was lifted halfway to her mouth, the bottom of her soggy bun folded over from a lost battle to gravity. A pile of drooping lettuce lay on the burger wrapper directly beneath her burger. An onion and slice of pickle was hanging precariously on to the meat and bun, scant millimeters from joining their forgotten brethren below.

He looked at the burger, then at her wide-eyed, open-mouthed expression. Slowly, taking care to broadcast every one of his movements, he stole her pickle.

She snapped her mouth shut and jerked her head back to stare at her burger, then frowned disapprovingly at it. "I thought I told them no pickles..."

"That's why I ate it," Hibiki said, then pulled a face. "Western pickles are so sour."

Io looked at him as if she couldn't quite figure out if he was being facetious or not. She sighed, put down her burger on top of the pile of lettuce, and then went back to staring at it. 

"I think," she said, "that you should try again."

"Okay. Is there another pickle on your burger?"

She looked up, confused. "Huh? No, I meant about Yamato— Oh," she added when Hibiki laughed. "H-hey!"

"Sorry," he said, then sobered and dropped his fry and let it sink into the mayo-ketchup concoction. He wiped his fingers on a napkin, pulled out his phone, and then thumbed through his messages with Yamato. "Try again, huh?"

"Mmm. But if you're concerned about what he meant... Then why not ask him if he likes you instead of asking him to clarify?"

Hibiki made another face. "Yeah, asking Yamato Hotsuin directly if he's got the hots for me sounds like a great idea."

Io almost managed to suppress her laughter. "Even so, I think you should be direct with him. I...don't know him as well as you do, but I think he appreciates that. Directness, I mean."

Hibiki put an elbow on a clean part of the table and dropped his chin into his hand. With the other hand, he tapped through the messages until he got to the most recent one. His thumb hovered over respond.

"Direct. Right." He hit respond.

-

` Do you like me? `

-

` Hibiki, `

` What an absurd question. If I did not like and respect you, would I have kept you so close to me? To ask you to continue to be with me? `

` If I have somehow suggested that I dislike you, I need to know. I wish to blow away any doubts or uncertainties you may have about my proposal and my feelings for you.  `

` Meet me in my quarters Saturday at 13:00. I wish to have a private lunch with you and discuss my proposal in person. Regardless of what happens, I will ensure you leave satisfied at the end. `

-

"Yamato just asked me on a date."

His voice was barely louder than the explosions currently happening in ' _Neo Featherman R! The Abyss of Mt. Iwata!_ ', but both Daichi and Io turned away from the TV. Daichi dropped the handful of popcorn he was holding — someone was going to have to clean that up late r— and Io shoved aside her notebooks to the corner of the couch so she could sit sideways on it and gape open-mouthed at Hibiki that way instead.

"In his quarters. To have a private lunch."

Daichi's response was, "Oh, my God," with his volume increasing with every word. Io opted for the much more silent method of her eyes growing wider until they reached the point where they made Hibiki somewhat concerned and kind of grossed out.

"You're _dating_ Yamato—"

"I didn't say yes yet!"

"—Hotsuin! The boss of JPs! The big kahuna of an entire government—"

"Daichi," Io cut in, placing a hand on Daichi's shoulder, "you're going to make your neighbors angry again."

"—organization!" Daichi whispered, and then threw the bowl of popcorn in his lap on the floor.

Hibiki watched it tumble onto the floor, spilling popcorn all over the carpet, into the recesses beneath the couch, and between the couch cushions. "Hey," he said weakly, watching a particularly plucky piece scatter all the way to the TV. "I'm not dating him."

"You did say 'yet'," Io said, then flushed and looked away when Hibiki glanced at her.

"I did say 'yet'," Hibiki muttered. He leaned against the back of the couch and tilted his head back so it rested nearly horizontally against the top of the couch back. Funny, he hadn't noticed the ceiling was cracked before.

"Having dinner with him isn't the same as dating him." He could hear and feel Daichi and Io shuffling around the couch, probably picking out popcorn between the cushions. "It's just one date."

"It's still a date," Daichi shouted, throwing a piece of popcorn at Hibiki. It bounced off the side of his head, and Hibiki tilted his head to watch it fall into a crack between the cushions. "You're going on a date! With Yamato Hotsuin!"

"Daichi, your volume," Io said, picking the popcorn bowl off the floor and throwing a few pieces into it.

Daichi jumped up, feet planted solidly on the ground, then scrunched his face as if annoyed. He glared at Hibiki, jumped up to the couch, and then pointed at him, stance shaky as he tried to maintain balance on the springy sofa cushions.

"You're going to break the couch," Hibiki said before Daichi could get a word in. Daichi scowled, opened his mouth and sucked in a deep breath, then off balanced and fell sideways. His arms flailed about in the air, stuck out as far as they could be from his body. He yelped, pivoted his body, and managed to adjust his falling trajectory so that he fell backwards instead.

Backwards towards Io, who managed to tumble off the couch with speed Hibiki didn't know she currently possessed. Daichi screamed as he fell, and Hibiki moved to grab him before the end table broke Daichi's fall instead.

Ultimately, Io was closer and faster, and she caught Daichi by the shoulders before the edge of the end table caught Daichi's head.

The three of them remained in their positions — Io cradling Daichi; Hibiki halfway up and reaching towards Daichi — for a few seconds, the only sound in the room the sound of Neo Featherman Blue slugging a mecha slug-alien in the face with a guitar case and the slug-alien subsequently exploding.

Finally, Daichi began to struggle and broke the silence. "Dating _Yamato Hotsuin_! In case you've forgotten, he's an elitist jerk!"

"It's just one date," Hibiki said. He released the tension in his muscles and collapsed back down to the couch.

"This is like the beginning of that really bad American movie! That — what was it? Five-tenths Monochrome or something?!"

"Hey," Hibiki said indignantly, "Yamato's not like that."

Io sighed and helped Daichi sit upright, scooting him forward at the same time so she could return to her corner of the couch and her now crumpled notes.

"You don't know that," Daichi said, brushing popcorn off the couch. "He dresses in an all black uniform and has a thing for obedience. He could absolutely have a shady sex dungeon in his basement!"

Hibiki gave him a suspicious look. "Why are you thinking about Yamato's sex life?"

"I'm not thinking about his sex life!" Daichi roared, and before a wrestling match could break out, Io cleared her throat.

"I think," she said, pointedly not looking at anything but the notes she was putting back together, "that Hibiki and Yamato could be really good for each other. You two balance each other out. So, uh...I think you should date him."

Hibiki felt his jaw drop, and a quick glance at Daichi told him that Daichi felt the same way. In the background, Neo Featherman Pink punched Neo Featherman Blue in the face and then leapt into Neo Featherman Red's arms as the world exploded and Neo Featherman Black threw flowers into space.

Hibiki closed his mouth. "I've lost the plot of the movie."

-

` My answer's yes. `

-

` Hibiki, `

` Wonderful. I will see you at 13:00 on Saturday. `

-

` Great. It's a date. `

-

Yamato didn't send him a reply stating that it wasn't a date, or that he was confused, or anything else, really, so in Hibiki's mind, it was good as confirmed that it was a date. Because it was a date, it was also okay for Hibiki to pick at someone's brains for ideas about what to wear and bring for the date.

That Friday, Hibiki sauntered into Daichi's room, ignored Daichi's frantic greeting and question of what Hibiki was doing in his room, and made Daichi's bed so he could flop on it.

"I have no idea what I should bring to my date with Yamato tomorrow."

Daichi made a sound that was a cross between an elephant dying and a star imploding on itself. "Why are you asking me this?!" He typed frantically on his laptop, then stopped and tugged at his hair. "I have eight pages left on this paper! It's due on Monday!"

"You have a few days, you'll be fine. I'm not going to bring him flowers; that'd be insulting to both of us. ...Unless I bring him flowers _because_ it's insulting to both of us? He is getting used to my jokes."

"Stop," Daichi moaned, then slammed his head against his keyboard. "I'm on a roll...!"

"Should I bring wine? Yamato probably has expensive wine already, but I don't even know if he drinks or what we'll be eating."

"Go ask Io about this," Daichi said. He threw his phone at Hibiki before frantically typing away again. "Actually, don't. She's still studying, and she doesn't need you distracting her." He paused, swiveled his chair around so he was looking right at Hibiki, and frowned. "Wait, don't you have stuff to do too? You can't just blow off your finals and term papers for Yamato!"

"Already finished everything," Hibiki said, bored. "I wanted to have my head in the game for the date tomorrow."

Hibiki heard Daichi mutter, "Stupid honor students," before the sounds of rapid typing started anew. He sighed, stared at Daichi's boring, clean white ceiling, and then decided to busy himself by picking up Daichi's scattered dirty laundry.

He got seven socks and a pair of pants into the empty laundry basket before Daichi threw a crumpled ball of paper at him.

"Stop picking up my dirty laundry! You're distracting me!"

"I'm helping you clean," Hibiki said, injecting hurt into his voice. "You still have papers to work on, and you can't be distracted by your mess."

"Augh," Daichi cried, then ripped out another sheet of paper from his notebook and threw it at Hibiki. It hit his chest, then bounced harmlessly to the floor. "You jerk! All right, talk about your date. I'm not gonna get anything else done while you're in here."

Satisfied, Hibiki threw the balls of paper into a trash bin and took a seat on Daichi's bed. Daichi huffed and crossed his arms and legs, tapping his foot against the floor of his room, but he was paying attention to Hibiki. It was touching, and Hibiki almost didn't say what he was about to say.

"Do you think it'd be too much to expect him to put out on the first date? I mean, I bought condoms—"

Daichi screamed and threw the notebook at Hibiki, who blocked expertly, mainly because he'd been expecting it.

"You interrupted my essay for this," Daichi wailed, standing as Hibiki laughed and held up his hands in defense.

"I'm joking!"

"I know! That's what makes me mad!"

"Okay, okay," Hibiki said quickly as Daichi began eyeing his speakers. "I'll stop joking." He set the notebook aside and ran his fingers along a seam on Daichi's comforter. "I don't know what I'm expecting from my date tomorrow."

Daichi sat back down and wrinkled his brow. "I don't know what to tell you. I can't even imagine Yamato dating anyone! Like, does the guy have the word in his vocabulary?"

"I called it a date, and he didn't argue."

"Geeze," Daichi said, leaning back in his chair. "What does he talk about when he isn't talking about work?" He paused and frowned. "...Does he talk about anything other than work?"

"Not really," Hibiki admitted after skimming through his memories of Yamato. "Sometimes he asks me to tell him more about civilian life and how school's going, but we're always out in public for that. He's invited me into his room for lunch; I don't know what's going to happen."

"I don't want to imagine what could happen," Daichi said, and Hibiki made an exaggerated leer. Daichi rolled his eyes and pivoted himself on his swivel chair. "Man, Yamato Hotsuin. of all the people..."

"And that's another thing." Hibiki scratched his head and picked at a fraying thread on the comforter. "What if this date doesn't go well? What if he doesn't like me?"

Daichi gave him a look that Hibiki found mildly insulting.

"I think you're the only person that Yamato actually does like."

"Which adds to the pressure. If the date goes awfully and we stop associating because of it, that's one thing. But I'm going to be working for him. Getting along with him is important."

"That too," Daichi said, standing again and pointing a finger at Hibiki's face. "I get that he wants you to work for JPs, but asking you to date him on top of that! That's so messed up!"

Hibiki shrugged. "It is, but I don't have a backup plan. Nothing else I've applied to has gotten back to me."

A silence fell between them as something rather ominous clicked into place.

"You don't think—"

"He wouldn't do that."

"But what if he DID? He's done sneaky underhanded stuff before!"

"Then," Hibiki said darkly, all signs of mirth removed from his voice, "I guess I know what our lunch conversation will be about."

-

He opted not to bring anything to the date, nor dress any differently than he would have for an outing with Daichi or Io. Daichi had given him a worried look as he left, followed by sending him a text asking him if he was going to be all right. Hibiki responded that he was going to be fine, but inwardly he wasn't quite as certain as his text had been.

Surely Yamato wouldn't have sabotaged his other applications. If Yamato still believed — and Hibiki was certain Yamato still believed in it — in the merits of a meritocracy, then he wouldn't have tried to coerce Hibiki into JPs without first confronting Hibiki about it. Using his position to manipulate the environment so that his favored pick got his favored position regardless of circumstances would be too much like the corrupt politicians he hated.

Yet the fact that none of the jobs he'd applied to got back to him, and that Yamato had come with a saving offer just in time was too suspicious to ignore.

Makoto was the one waiting for him when he approached the Diet Building. She escorted him through the building and through the Tokyo Branch of JPs, chatting politely with him all the while. He noticed, after trying to steer the conversation towards Yamato once, that she seemed reluctant and embarrassed to talk about him. When they finally arrived at the terminal, she seemed almost relieved to send him on his way.

Which only further raised his suspicions about everything Yamato was planning.

A staff member that Hibiki knew by sight but not by name escorted him to Yamato's chambers once he arrived at the Osaka branch. She left as soon as they arrived, bowing to him and citing some errand she had to run. Hibiki was left staring at the door to Yamato's room, alone in a hallway that had always been previously locked to him.

He sighed, knocked, then entered when he heard Yamato greet him.

"Hibiki," Yamato said, seated at a well set table with an elaborate arrangement of dishes on it. "You're right on time."

"Of course," Hibiki said blithely, strolling up to the only other chair at the table. "Couldn't be late for our first date."

Yamato's brow furrowed, and he frowned. The expression faded soon enough, and he gestured towards the chair with one ungloved hand. "Please, sit. I believe you'll approve of the meal."

Hibiki glanced at the array after he took his seat. "No takoyaki?"

Yamato laughed. "No. You've indulged me often enough with that. My goal today is to show you what you could have if you take the job."

"Ah," Hibiki said, and made himself comfortable. "About that. I have a few things I want to ask you."

Yamato grinned and picked up his glass. "I have a few questions of my own, Hibiki. However, they can be asked as we eat. Please, help yourself."

The food was, as expected, delicious. Hibiki sampled a bit of everything and savored every bite, not quite succeeding at ignoring how Yamato never seemed to take his eyes off him.

"So," Hibiki said after swallowing a spectacular dish made with shrimp, "let's start with you. What did you want to ask me? Other than if I want the job, of course."

Yamato set down his fork and frowned. "I suspect it relates to your questions. Why the hesitation in answering? Even if you decide to decline, a simple no would have sufficed. If you needed more time, I would have given it to you. There was no need to delay the conversation by asking unnecessary questions."

"Were they really unnecessary?" Hibiki shredded a piece of perfectly baked chicken apart with his knife and fork, spreading the strands apart aimlessly on the plate. "I needed the clarification, and I'm still uncertain about a few things."

Yamato crossed his arms, and his frown became more heavily set. "You doubt my sincerity that much."

"It isn't your—" Hibiki sighed and set down his utensils as well. "I'm not doubting your sincerity; it's your methods I'm doubting."

"Explain."

"Did you or did you not sabotage my other job applications so I would work for JPs?"

Yamato's frown was replaced by an expression of bafflement. "No."

"Really? You didn't do anything at all? Didn't talk to any of the places I applied to?"

Yamato scoffed and uncrossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. He closed his eyes and allowed a small smile to play out on his face. "I am beginning to understand. Have all the other places you've applied to rejected you?"

"They didn't reject me. They never got back to me at all." He stared at Yamato's expression with distrust. "You did have something to do with it."

"Not at all," Yamato said, opening his eyes and picking up his fork. "I did not have to do anything."

HIbiki also picked up his fork, but more so that he could have something to grip than anything else. "Okay, now it's your turn to explain."

Yamato chuckled and leaned forward to take a bite of chicken, looking up at Hibiki through the fringe of his hair as he chewed. "It's quite simple," he said once he swallowed. "I believe your prospective employers were frightened of your history."

"Clarify."

"You have been employed part-time with a top secret government organization for several years. Even if you did not record your employment with us on your resume, anyone doing even a rudimentary background check on you would find that much of your history has been deemed classified. You have never," Yamato stated, setting down his fork and smirking at Hibiki, who had let his hang mouth open in surprise, "done a background check on yourself before."

Hibiki managed to close his mouth. "No, but... What do you mean classified?!"

"Shijima has been rubbing off on you. Part of your record that exists in various databases all around the world is classified, and those inquiring on you would have found themselves in a precarious situation, trying to look up information that they lack the authority to access."

His mouth felt dry, and Hibiki let go of his fork, the handle having dug lines into his skin from holding it so tightly, and grabbed his glass of water. He took a big gulp of water, then set the glass down harder than he probably should have. The other utensils on the table rattled from the force.

"So you're saying that because I worked for JPs, no one can do a background check on me without first jumping through a bunch of hoops with the government?!"

"More than that. I've placed a high security seal on your JPs database. Anyone trying to access it without permission, even if it's just an inquiry, would have been contacted by members of JPs' security personnel." Yamato leaned back, rested his hands against the table, and steepled his fingers. "That would explain the increase in paperwork these last months."

Hibiki remained motionless for a few seconds, an eerie sense of calm pervading most of his body, except at his upper torso, which was tense and strained and felt like it was on fire. Then, all at once, the fire spread, and Hibiki slammed his fists on the table, rattling the plates.

"You did _what_!? I can't get any jobs because they think I'm a — what, a felon? A spy?"

"A valued member of something far above their comprehension. They most likely refrained from pursuing any further information, because they were fools who had no desire to shake their perceived security of their plebeian lives," Yamato replied cooly. He had raised an eyebrow when Hibiki hit the table, but now his expression was cold. "I don't see what you're upset about."

"You don't see what I'm upset about?" Hibiki stood, pushing himself up with his fists against the table. "You messed with my future! I can't have a job because—"

"You have no need for a job other than the one I'm offering," Yamato cut in. They stared at one another across the table, Hibiki refusing to sit down again or turn away.

At last, Yamato sighed and closed his eyes. "At least, that was what I had thought. I never once considered that you would seek employment anywhere else other than with JPs."

"Well, I have," Hibiki said through gritted teeth. "I've been trying for months, and not hearing anything back for so long _kind of sucks_."

"That is unfortunate, but I had nothing—"

"You had everything to do with it! You were the one who messed with my background check information!"

"No more than was necessary, and doing so was for the sake of JPs, not to restrict you." Yamato rubbed his forehead. "I apologize, Hibiki. Had I known that you were looking at other avenues of employment, I would have worked to make as much of your records available for them." He opened his eyes and stared straight at Hibiki, his expression no longer cold, but genuinely apologetic. "I am sorry, for what it's worth."

Slowly, Hibiki stopped grinding his teeth and let go of some of the tension he held. "I'm still mad."

Yamato laughed, although it was one without any actual joy. "I can see that. I'm ashamed that I've misread you so much. If you would like, I will help you to reapply, giving any places you've applied to a full explanation from the government, along with a good word. I have no doubt that you could obtain any job you wished to have in this country, Hibiki."

He sat down and looked at his plate. The chicken still smelled amazing, although he didn't think he had much appetite left. Still, he stabbed it and shoved a forkful of it into his mouth so that he could have something else to occupy himself with.

"And," Yamato said, and Hibiki looked up at the hesitance in Yamato's voice only to find that he had looked away from Hibiki, "shall I take your outburst as you having declined my offer?"

The mouthful of chicken, which had already tasted like cardboard to Hibiki, now tasted like sand. He chewed and swallowed as quickly as he could, and then finished off his glass of water to wash it down.

"I can't answer that right now," Hibiki said. "I'm still too mad to give you an answer about the job offer, nevermind the other one."

Yamato snapped his attention back to Hibiki. "I only made one offer."

The chicken had already had a hard time making it past his throat, but now it felt like a lead weight, dropping into his stomach and making it lurch unpleasantly. "...You only made one offer?"

"What other offer did you think I had made?" Yamato asked, voice so hesitant and expression so cautious that it made Hibiki frightened. 

"The date," Hibiki said slowly, bracing himself for something he couldn't define but knew was coming. "The texts. All this. You...asked me on a date."

Yamato stared at him, and Hibiki couldn't tell what the expression on his was like. He couldn't tell much of anything, in fact. He could feel his heartbeats reverberate throughout his body. His head was filled with the sound of white noise and a low, echoing din.

"A business date," Yamato said. "This is a business date."

"Not a business and romantic date," Hibiki felt himself say.

"No," Yamato said, then frowned. "You thought I had asked you on a... _romantic_ date?" He said the word like it was foreign. Like it was strangely shaped and difficult to get out of his mouth. Hibiki nodded numbly, feeling tense and far too loose all at the same time. There was a tightness in his chest that was nothing like the anger he had felt mere moments before.

"You didn't ask me on a romantic date."

"No."

"You weren't suggesting that you were interested in me."

"No," Yamato said. He suddenly looked uncomfortable in a way that Hibiki had never seen him be before. Yamato looked like, for the first time since Hibiki had known him, like he had utterly lost control of the situation.

"Wow," Hibiki said. And then, because he had nothing else to lose, stood. "I think I'm going to see myself out now and die of embarrassment."

Yamato didn't say anything as he left.

\- 

` Hibiki, `

` We need to discuss what happened yesterday, and I still need a clear answer from you. I will be in Tokyo today. Meet me at the Diet Building at 12:00. `

-

He didn't remember how he made it home, or much of what happened after he got home, other than brushing by Daichi and Io and then locking himself in his room. He must have fallen asleep, since he woke up the next morning from said sleep, but he hadn't taken off his clothes or bothered to go under his covers. He awoke slowly, blinking at the light streaming in his windows, and then rolled over when he felt his phone vibrate with a text notification.

What he did remember, as it turned out, was everything else that happened. He set down his phone and tried to go back to sleep — under the covers this time — but it wouldn't happen.

He got up slowly, undressed slowly, and shuffled off to the shower slowly. When he finally finished showering, he could smell something delicious drifting in from the kitchen, along with the sounds of activity there.

He walked into the kitchen, confused, and found Io and Daich preparing a western style breakfast. Io was dropping batter onto a frying pan, and Daichi was scrambling eggs in another pan. When they realized Hibiki was there, they stopped, turned to him, and stared.

"Good morning," Hibiki said after a few seconds. "Daichi, I think your eggs are burning."

"Oh, crap," Daichi said. He turned back to the eggs, which had begun smoking, and scraped at the bottom of the pan with a spatula. The awkward tension dissipated, and Hibiki took a seat at the still messy kitchen table. He pulled out the riceball from a few days ago, now disgusting beyond belief, and tossed it neatly into the trash bin.

"How many pancakes would you like?" Io asked him, and Hibiki stared at her back blankly. She was wearing a pair of yoga pants and a shirt that he knew belonged to Daichi.

"Two," he said eventually. "Is there something I should know about the two of you?"

Io and Daichi looked at him, then at each other.

"No!" Io said at the same time Daichi said: "She slept on _the couch_! She needed a shirt to sleep in!"

"You didn't pack an overnight bag?" Hibiki said to Io. She shook her head and bit her lip, pancakes momentarily forgotten.

"I wasn't planning to spend the night, but...we were worried about you."

Oh. He looked down and stared at his lap. After a second, he heard Io flip the pancake over, the uncooked side sizzling in the pan, and Daichi cracking a few more eggs.

"I'm okay," he said. "I got rejected, but I'm okay."

There was the sound of a spatula clattering into the pan. "Yamato rejected you?" Daichi shouted. "How?!"

Hibiki shrugged, still looking at his lap. "I got it wrong; he wasn't interested in me at all. It was just a business meeting."

"Oh," Daichi said. He fell silent and returned to the eggs. After a few moments, Hibiki heard someone grab a plate from the cabinet. A few seconds after that, Daichi placed a plate of eggs and pancakes in front of him.

"Forget about Yamato," he said when Hibiki looked up. He started clearing the table, a determined expression on his face. "Who needs that guy anyway? Uh, unless you're still going to be working for him."

"Dunno," Hibiki said, picking at the eggs with a pair of chopsticks. "I guess I should tell you about that, too."

"Tell us only if you're ready to," Io said, setting two other plates down on the cleared table. "We're here for you, Hibiki, at any time.

Despite the eggs being a little burnt, the meal was delicious.

-

After brunch, Io and Daichi pulled Hibiki to the living room, where they fired up a game of Destruction Siblings. As they selected their characters, Hibiki asked them about how their papers and projects were going. Daichi went pale and quickly muttered something about how he didn't want to be reminded.

Io and Hibiki both gave him concerned looks, but Daichi insisted that it was fine. He could afford to take a day to relax. All three of them could; they needed it.

And so Hibiki was completely unaware of 12:00 rolling by.

At 12:30, in the midst of he and Io beating up Daichi's character, someone rang the doorbell to their apartment. They paused the game, and Daichi volunteered to answer the door, citing needing something other than his inevitable doom to stare at.

He returned with Yamato at his heels, looking out of place and uncomfortable to be inside their apartment.

Daichi was tense, and he walked toward Hibiki with stiff, stilted movements. "Someone's here to see you, Hibiki," he said, using his eyes to gesture to Yamato behind him. 

"Hibiki," Yamato said. He gave Io a quick nod. "Nitta."

"Er, um, hello," Io said, clutching the controller to her like a lifeline. "It's, um, nice to see you again."

Daichi winced, and before the situation got even more unbearable, Hibiki dropped his controller on the couch next to Io and stood up.

"Yamato," Hibiki said as calmly as he could while still wearing his pajamas in front of him. Yamato nodded at him as well, then ran his eyes down Hibiki's body, brow beginning to furrow. Hibiki swore at himself for wearing footie pajamas, and then leapt over the couch and walked in between Daichi and Yamato.

He heard Daichi let out a breath of relief before the latter scrambled to the couch. He threw himself onto the couch and then turned around, peeking over the back of the couch to stare at Yamato and Hibiki.

"Let's talk outside," Hibiki blurted out, and before he could rethink anything, grabbed Yamato's arm and pulled him out of the apartment. 

Outside, Hibiki let a breath he didn't know was holding, then immediately sucked in another one as Makoto snapped to attention and saluted.

"Sir," she said, then looked lost as she looked at Hibiki. "Kuze. Um, are you two—"

"No," Yamato said as he removed his arm from Hibiki's grasp. Hibiki blinked at his hand, realizing that Yamato actually allowed him to grab him like that. "We've yet to talk. Go wait in the car, Sako. I'll be with you shortly."

"Yes, sir," she said, and saluted again, although there was an expression of pure dismay on her face. "I'll just...wait. In the car."

She fled down the stairs. Hibiki watched her run away with a feeling of dread and disbelief rising up from the pit of his stomach. Here he was, on a Sunday afternoon, dressed in footie pajamas with someone he had humiliated himself in front of. Yamato cleared his throat, and Hibiki gathered his courage.

"Yamato," he began, but Yamato held up a hand, asking for him to stop.

"Before you say anything," Yamato said, lowering his hand, "let me make one thing clear: what happened yesterday does not affect the opportunity I offer you. I was surprised to hear you thought I had extended an offer of a romantic entanglement. After a difficult conversation with Sako yesterday, I have been told that the way I speak about you and to you could easily be taken as...something else other than admiration."

Hibiki sent a silent prayer of thanks to Makoto as he tried to suppress a wince. There was no way that Makoto wasn't embarrassed out of her mind during that conversation, but she still came with Yamato. 

"Rest assured," Yamato continued, "that if you should remain with— become employed by JPs," he corrected, "that our relationship will be strictly professional. There was no other offer." 

Hibiki rubbed his head. "And if I don't take the job?"

"Then I shall leave. Excuse me."

Yamato moved for the stairs, but Hibiki reached out and grabbed him by the back of his coat. Yamato spun around, yanking his coat out of Hibiki's grasp, and then gripped his wrist. Hibiki stared at where Yamato's hand was touching him, and Yamato let go.

"I didn't say that I was turning it down. I said 'if' I didn't take it." He sighed and leaned against the door to his apartment. "I still don't know what I want to do."

"Why did you never consider working for JPs," Yamato asked, voice quiet, and Hibiki closed his eyes.

"I did. I figured I could probably get a position, too, but... I wanted to see if I could get a normal job first. I mean, I don't mind working with you and being on call as a contact, but," he opened his eyes and spread his arms, gesturing to the apartment, the streets below, the people, "I kind of like civilian life, too."

"I would say that you've move far past the title of 'civilian'." Yamato crossed his arms and moved away from Hibiki, towards the balustrade that fenced in the balcony hallway. He looked out towards the parking lot and frowned. "I still cannot fully grasp the appeal of civilian life, but I have never lived among it like you have been."

"It's not all bad," Hibiki said. "I like it."

"More than you like JPs."

"I don't know. I like the civilian life I've led so far, but I admit that just being an office worker in some company, sitting in a cubical for hours doesn't appeal to me either."

Yamato huffed and smiled. "I highly doubt that one of your talents could remain a mere office worker in any company. You have what it takes to make it to the top in anything you try."

"I think you're one of the few people who thinks that," Hibiki said quietly. "Most people look at me and see some normal guy."

"Fools," Yamato spat out. "If they look at you and are unable to see how worthy you are, then they do not deserve the privilege of your company. You are a treasure in this world; one meant to be cherished."

Hibiki pushed himself off the door and stood next to Yamato. "And that's why I thought you were in love with me. Stuff like that."

Yamato stiffened. He folded his arms even tighter to his chest, and stood even straighter. Hibiki peered at him, and then gave a sheepish chuckle.

"Sorry, sorry. I get it. You're not interested."

Yamato gave no reply, keeping his gaze even as he looked out into the distance. Hibiki leaned away, deciding to give him his space.

"I'll give you an answer soon, I promise," he said. "One more day. I just want one more day to think about things, and I'll let you know for sure." For a moment, he wanted to pat Yamato on the back as a way to reassure him, but killed the idea almost as quickly as it came. Instead, he just turned away, ready to head back in and subject himself to Daichi and Io's worrying.

Before he could reach the door, Yamato spoke. "Are you interested?"

Hibiki turned around. Yamato had his back to him, still looking at the distance. "Huh?"

"Are you interested in me? Or was your reply to what you thought was an advance merely pity?"

Hibiki struggled for a moment, trying to figure out what Yamato was asking and how he should reply. "I... I was confused and conflicted when I first thought you were propositioning me, but. I said yes to that date for a reason."

He saw Yamato take a deep breath. "I see." He didn't say anything else for a long time, and just as Hibiki was ready to say goodbye and try for his apartment again, Yamato turned around.

"I would not be adverse to it."

Hibiki's fingers froze on the doorknob. "Huh?"

"I would not be adverse to it. To...us."

His brain was scrambling to catch up to reality. "Us?"

"I admit that I have no experience in such matters. Indeed, I don't even know if what I feel for you is anything other than platonic affection and admiration. However, I...don't find myself repulsed by the idea."

"You don't?"

"I...may welcome it, in fact."

"You would?" Hibiki said, then let his arm give in to gravity. "So...you're okay with me liking you?"

"Just as you need time to contemplate my job offer, I need time to contemplate and analyze my feelings for you. I refuse to do anything rash, but...it is possible that your feelings are not unrequited."

"Uh," Hibiki said. Yamato looked at him cooly.

"Hibiki. Are you with me?"

"Yes," he answered. "I am. I just need some time to digest this."

"That would make for two of us," Yamato said, and he dropped the cold expression and turned away. To Hibiki's shock, Yamato's face looked flushed. "Shall we make an agreement, then? We will give each other answers tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow sounds great," Hibiki said. Reality and common sense were crashing down around him, and he gripped the door knob again. This time it was to keep himself upright as opposed to letting himself in. "I'll let you know for sure by noon."

"Good." Yamato nodded, still not looking at him, and reality came down a little bit more when his flush grew deeper. "I will contact you then."

When Hibiki finally gathered enough control to stand up on his own, he opened the door. It hit something, and he heard Daichi cry out in pain as Io let out a sound of surprise.

The door opened all the way a second later, Daichi rubbing his nose as Io gave Hibiki an apologetic look from behind him.

"Really, guys?" Hibiki said.

-

Weeks passed. Hibiki graduated, along with Io and Daichi. They celebrated by driving out to the beach, where Daichi set a copy of all his essays on fire and danced around it. Afterwards, Daichi started working for the same company Joe worked for, and Io left Japan to spend a summer abroad before returning to go to grad school.

Hibiki went to Yamato.

The JPs uniform that all high ranking members wore was extremely constrictive. Hibiki tugged on the collar and wondered how Yamato could move around so easily in it.

"Now I see why Fumi just drapes the coat over her shoulders," he muttered, and Yamato turned his head slightly to shoot him a glance.

"Kanno can ignore the uniform policy, but we are not exempt. As the leaders of JPs, we have an example to set."

"To starch our collars too much?" Hibiki asked, and Yamato stopped.

"Of course you don't know what starch is," Hibiki said, and grabbed his arm. He pulled Yamato forward, ignoring Yamato's huff of protest. "You've never had to do laundry for yourself in your life, I bet."

"I have far more important tasks to attend to other than laundering my clothes," Yamato said. He allowed himself to be dragged for a few steps before taking the lead again, although he didn't shake Hibiki off. "The same now goes for you."

"Yipee," Hibiki said in monotone, and Yamato gave him another look.

"For your attitude, I ought to assign you to deal with the new recruits."

"Can't assign me anywhere; we're equals, remember?"

Yamato laughed and quickened his pace. Hibiki almost tripped, but he tightened his grip and sped up to match.

"Ha! Not until you've finished your training with me. For now, you are under my command until I see that you are able to run JPs as well as I have."

"This isn't what I signed up for," Hibiki muttered, but he gave Yamato a smile. "All right, so what's first? Yelling at people? Sealing a demon?"

"Paperwork," Yamato said. "In peacetime, the majority of our tasks would be devoted to paperwork."

Hibiki stopped suddenly, and Yamato almost stumbled, arm still being held by Hibiki. "Paperwork?"

"Paperwork."

"I got away from a boring job full of paperwork to do _paperwork?!"_

"Yes," Yamato said. He adjusted Hibiki's grasp so that it was now Yamato who had him by the arm. "Now, come. I've prepared three week's worth of paperwork for you to go through."

"I hate you," Hibiki said. Yamato only laughed in response.


End file.
